Improvement in exercising-chairs



UNITED STATESVPATENT GFFIOE.

sOLoMorT OHAPIN, or ASHLAND, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN EXERCISING-CHAIRS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 7,2!0, dated March 26,1850. i

To LM whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that l, SOLOMON CHAPIN, of Ashland, in the county of Ashlandand State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Exercising-Chair, ofwhich the following is a full, clear,`and exact description, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings,which form part of thisspecification, and in which- Figure l represents a viewin perspective ofmy chair. Figs. 2 and 3 are sections, the former of the side piece ofthe back and thelatter of that of the apron; and Fig. 4 is a View of thedevice for iixing the apron and back in any desired position.

Couches and chairs -such, for example, as those of Earles, Holmes, andNVood-have been constructed to support the body in various positions bymeans of a movable back and apron,which have been eitherconnected witheach other or have been made to act separately; but all these supportshave been devoid of any means of adjustment by which they could at willbe adapted equally well to persons of different forms and proportions.This deficiency it is the obj ect of my invention to supply by renderingthe hinged connection of the back and apron of the chair adjustable todifferent distances from their respective centers of motion,wherebyeither ex tremity of the body can be made to preponderate over theother,or the one can be made to counterbalance the other exactly, andthus a free and easy rocking motion can be obtained with but a slightexertion of muscular force.

My invention therefore consists in con structing a chair with an apron,to support the legs of the sitter7 hinged to the front of the seat, anda back hinged to the hinder part of the seat, the back and apron beingconnected by adjustable arms in such manner that the pressure of theback of the sitter against the back of the chair is counterbalanced bythe weight of his legs upon the apron, the two being in equilibrium,thus enabling the sitter to place himself in any position or to rock toand fro with but slight exertion,

\ while the variation in the length of his limbs,

caused by the exure of the joints,tis compensated bya spring foot-board.The apron and back may also be fixed in any desired position by a clampof peculiar construction.

Thechair, as represented in the drawings, is mainly composed of astationary seat A, supported on legs of, a back B, hinged at its lowerside to the `frame of the seat, an apron C, similarly hinged to theseat, and the arms D D. The side pieces c c of theapron-frame arepivoted to the front extremities of the side pieces d CZ of theseat-frame. They are then prolonged above the seat to support the frontextremities of the arms"`D, which arehinged thereto. The hinderextremities of the arms are uiiited behind the back by a rod e, whichalso forms the pivot of the hinges by which they are connected with theside pieces of the back frame. These hinges f f are not rigidly securedto the side pieces h b, but are constructed in such a manner that theycan be raised or lowered, as the legs orA back of the sitter happen topreponderate, to adjust them to produce an equipoise between the upperand lower extremities of the body, without which an easy rocking motionis impossible. This is effected by fluting the inner faces of thehinge-plates and attaching corresponding fluted plates h lt to the sidepieces h of the back frame, the luted hinge-plates being clamped to thefluted plates by screws t' e'. The heads of the screws slide against theinner faces of the luted plates in a groove let into the side pieces,and their nuts are concealed in ornamental knobs 7c on the outer facesof the hinge-plates. Vhen the knobs are screwed up, they force thetinted projections on the surfaces of the hinges into the indentationsin the iiuted surfaces of the plates, and thus clamp the hinges securelyto the back. If the position of the rod is to be changed, the knobs areslacked to allow the hinges to be moved up or down at will. The apron isfurnished with an adjustable selfadjusting foot-board E, on which thefeet of the sitter are supported. `This is formed of two pieces, thelower Z stationary and the upper nt movable `and connectedwith the lowerby springs n, to allow for Athe varying alter ation inthe length of thelimbs of the sitter by the ilexure of the joints. The lower orstationary piece of the foot-board is connected with the apron by twospring-plates o o, arranged to slide upon the side pieces c c of theapronframe, and it is retained in any required position by the hookedupper extremities of these spring-plates catching in rack-plates p 29,secured to the side pieces. The lspringplates are held against the side,pieces by clamp-screws /',arranged to slide in the same manner as thoseof the hinge-plates'at the back of the chair. Theyare also each providedWith a knob s s in reach of the sitter, by which he can raise or depressthem to adjust the foot-board to the length of'his limbs. When a personseats himself in the chair, the foot-board is adjusted to the length ofhis legs andthe hinder extremities of the hinged arms are moved eitherup or down, as may be required,until his back and-legs balance eachother, when they are secured in their posi- A tions by the clamp-screws.The sitter then pressing alternately with his back and feet can rockhimself with a very slight exertion.

A device is attached to the side of the chair by which the back andapron can be secured at any desired angle of inclination, thusconverting it into a couch or bed. This device is composed of arack-plate t, hinged at its upper extremity to the arm of the chair, aslotted pivot u, through which the rack-plate is passed, anda cam v, bywhich the rack-plate is clamped in any desired position. Vhen the sitterWishes to rock to and fro, the cam e is turned upright and therack-plate is free to slide in the slot of the pivot, which turns toaccommodate -itself to the varying inclination of the rack-plate causedby the motion of the arms to which it is hinged. When the back and apronare t`o be fixed in any position in which they are placed,the handle ofthe cam is turned down, as seen in Fig. 4, thus forcing the toothed edgeof the rackrplate against that part of the pivot which forms the innerend of the slot, and Which entering the indentations of the rack-plateprevents it from moving, and thus iixes the movable portionsof the chairin the positions which they oecupy at the time. n

I do not restrict myself to the application of this principle of adjustability to chairs alone, but intend to apply it to couches orothersupports for the body of all descriptions.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim therein as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-` 1. Connecting the movable apronand back by means of adjustable arms, substantially as herein set forth,whereby the back and legs of the sitter can be so equally balanced thathe can rock himself to and fro with the slightest exertion.

2. The adjustable self-adj usting foot-board, in combination with themovable apron, substantially in the manner and for the purpose setforth.

SOLOMON OHAPIN. Witnesses:

E. L. BENWICK, P. H. WATSON..

